There's a credit that we don't often enough pat ourselves on the back for as South Africans. Every single month, come a downgrade, come yawning budget deficit or widening trade balance, we pay 18 million social grants in a form of solidarity to compatriots. I say 'we' because it's solidarity from all to all – after all, it's paid from personal, corporate and VAT collections. It is huge; almost certainly the largest form of social solidarity on the continent and it is up there among the better systems in the developing world.

The next morning I rushed to see if Tracy was still with us, and there she was, waiting. “Hurry!” I said to Zambi, as I was dying to get going – I was becoming addicted to the rhythm of Tracy on the open road and I was enjoying my beautifully upholstered two-seater sofa. And I was also starting to feel the spirit of adventure …

Americanahwill be adapted as a series at HBO Max, with Lupita Nyong’o as the lead and Danai Gurira as showrunner. The novel, written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has long been on the radar for both Nyong’o and Gurira. Lupita Nyong’o has described Americanah as “a passion project from me since I read Chimamanda’s beautiful novel in 2013.”

The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena

The moving true life story of an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances. Houseworker and resilient Afrikaans-speaking isiXhosa mother, Poppie Nongena, desperately tries to keep her family together by navigating the day-to-day struggle against inhumane government pass laws in 1970's South Africa.

Based on the celebrated novel by Elsa Joubert.#PoppieNongenaFilm in cinemas 31 January 2020.

When she was last spotted on the crossroads of Swart and Gevaar Roads, Coconut Kelz was drinking Woolies water and spreading her ‘truth bombs’ about the state of the nation, why corruption is okay when white people do it and why black people don’t win in life…

South African author and scholar Jonny Steinberg has published his latest book titled One Day in Bethlehem. The book centres around what actually happened at 4.10pm on 2 April 1992, on the outskirts of Bethlehem, the time and the location of the crime for which Fusi Mofokeng and Tshokolo Mokoena were sentenced to life in prison.

Salander is less physically present this time — and that’s too bad, because she’s fascinating. A superhacker, Salander learns online that her family is genetically predisposed to both high intelligence and psychopathy. Abused by both her father and later by a sadistic child psychiatrist, Salander devotes her life to revenge against powerful cruel people, most of them men.

One of 2020’s most anticipated titles, Jeanine Cummins’ sweeping novel is set to arrive with big expectations: It’s already generated raves from the likes of Don Winslow (“a Grapes of Wrath for our times”) and Stephen King (“an extraordinary piece of work”). And back in 2018, it sparked a nine-house, seven-figure auction, ultimately won by Flatiron Books.

What Chandler Baker serves up in “Whisper Network,” her adult debut, is part soapy shocker (one of the characters is keeping a very big secret) and part legal thriller (excerpts from depositions offer a glimpse into the third act). Think “Big Little Lies” meets the famous 2017 list of men in the media industry accused of sexual harassment.

Mr Bruce also wants the ANC to act without the spur of the IMF but his argument is different: “No one should want the IMF in here. Cost cuts and labour market reforms are just the beginning of a restructuring. The political effect is frightening...the ANC shrivels and the EFF grows. An IMF bailout 100% fuels populism.”